The Nursing and Midwifery Council has revealed the annual fee Nursing Associates will be required to pay to remain on the register.
Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) council papers have revealed that the body plans to ensure the same fee should apply to Nursing Associates, Registered Nurses and Registered Midwives, as the cost to regulate them would not be disproportionately different.
In January 2017, the Nursing and Midwifery Council formally agreed to regulate nursing associates – the role which will ‘help bridge the gap’ between Registered Nurses and Healthcare Assistants.
The fee, which is currently set at £120 a year, is reviewed by the regular on a yearly basis and increased from £76 a year in 2011.
The council has proposed it will regulate Nursing Associates in the same way it does nurses and midwives – by overseeing registration, revalidation and fitness-to-practise cases. But, the NMC papers reveal that legislative changes are still required for it to introduce the fee.
Draft standards of proficiency for Nursing Associates were released in October but remain under consultation.
A final decision is set to be made by the NMC in September 2018.